Apps for Electric Cars Apps for electric cars and all cars in general are a growing market. As even our cars are increasingly becoming apart of the Internet of Things (IoT), the need for apps for cars will grow. And where there’s a need, there’s an opportunity. Even more fortunate, we’re here to help. Increasingly, cars are arriving off the line with on-boarded wi-fi and even monitors. Basically, our cars are becoming computers themselves. Even more important, there’s a strong reason to believe that within the next decade, Self-Driving Cars will be available to the public. Soon after that, they will be the norm. In other words, this is a burgeoning market with numerous chances for the opportunistic entrepreneur. So without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the best apps for electric cars – and Smart Cars in general (not those SmartCars). 1. Plugshare One of the biggest issues to any Electric Vehicle (EV) driver is knowing where to find a charge station. While there are a lot of other Charges Map Apps out there, when it comes to needing a charge in a pinch, Plugshare is our favorite. This app has both official directions, but also is a crowdsourced app – many of the app’s 18,000+ charge ports are personal homes or businesses. But this app has some of the best features – and even works outside of the United States. Additionally, Plugshare recently purchased the In-Car app company Recargo. This EV car app is for both Android and iOS. With this acquisition, users can now enjoy features like planning a long-distance trip to find EV charge ports – a great feature for vacationers. 2. GreenCharge From the makers of Plugshare comes the best electric car app for iOS out there. GreenCharge lets the environmentally conscious, data-loving, control freak. The app connects with the computer in your car, keeping you updated on all sorts of vital statistics: i. How fast your battery is charging; ii. Expected time to full charge; iii. Monitor emissions and see a comparison to a gas vehicle; iv. Track and report on driving patterns for more efficient driving; v. Track and report on the financial and environmental costs of your car, based off driving patterns. 3. Waze As some long-time readers of our blog may know, we are big fans of this CrowdSourced navigation app. That’s because it has some of the best features of any navigation map out there. It uses Google Maps to provide accurate directions, but the real winning aspect of this app is the aforementioned crowdsourcing. Through its large user base, this app offers up-to-the-minute information on Traffic alerts, mid-navigation route changes, and police reporting. In fact, Google, which owns Waze, uses much of Waze’s crowdsourced data to improve the functionality of its own map app. Waze still suffers from a lack of navigation outside of driving, but when you’re in a car, there is no better car app for Android or iOS. 4. Witness Driving This app essentially turns your phone into a Dashboard Cam – without spending Dashboard Cam money. This app for iOS and Android costs only a dollar, compared to actual Dash Cams, which can range into $300. While the Dash Cam is the main function, it’s actually not our favorite feature of this app – not by a long shot. One of the best parts of this app is its ability to record time, speed, acceleration, and location. This lets the driver obsessed with efficiency to be in total control of their driving patterns. Our favorite feature is its accident detection feature, which pushes a notification at the user when an accident may be about to occur. 5. GasBuddy I’m all about finding the cheapest gas around – I’ll go so far out of my way to find gas that I’m arguably actually losing money! And invariably, you run into the situation where you passed up one expensive gas station too many. Now you’re lost out in the sticks with no gas. GasBuddy, a free app for iOS, Android, and Blackberry uses the geolocation on your phone to find the nearest, cheapest station. It lets you know all prices, grades of gas, and even searches for stations with diesel. Even better, GasBuddy automatically provides you directions from your location to the station you choose. Develop a service for a gas app and build your startup! 6. iCarMode This app is only for iOS but is a great example of an excellently designed UI. This app provides an enlarged Heads Up Display (HUD) that provides easy access to things like maps, music players, and other commonly used features. If you want to know what intelligent design looks like, download this app. The apps discussed here today are all apps on the market and are meant to work with phones. But, as mentioned above, cars are quickly becoming a part of the IoT. What is needed are apps designed for in-car use; designed for a new generation of drivers who may not even be driving. The good news is, an expert app dev team can easily prepare your existing app for in-car use. Just drop us a line! Car App Development SDI has developed apps, software and websites for over 10,000 customers. We specialize in enterprise solutions for the entrepreneur, with low pricing and an accelerated timeline. If you would like to get started on an app for electric cars (or any other project!) give us a call at 408.805.0495. Contact us today and we will send an NDA right away for your car app. You can also reach us by email: team@sdi.la